villeinage

villeinage
Villanage Vil"lan*age (?; 48), n. [OF. villenage, vilenage. See {Villain}.] 1. (Feudal Law) The state of a villain, or serf; base servitude; tenure on condition of doing the meanest services for the lord. [In this sense written also {villenage}, and {villeinage}.] [1913 Webster]

I speak even now as if sin were condemned in a perpetual villanage, never to be manumitted. --Milton. [1913 Webster]

Some faint traces of villanage were detected by the curious so late as the days of the Stuarts. --Macaulay. [1913 Webster]

2. Baseness; infamy; villainy. [Obs.] --Dryden. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • villeinage — or villenage [vil′ənij] n. [ME villenage < OFr: see VILLAIN] 1. the status of a villein 2. the conditions of tenure by which a villein held his land …   English World dictionary

  • Villeinage — Tenure by which a villein held his land; it was known as tenure by villeinage or in villeinage . The Latin form used was villanagium. Cf. Villein; Bondus …   Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases

  • villeinage — /vilanaj/ In feudal law, a servile kind of tenure belonging to lands or tenements, whereby the tenant was bound to do all such services as the lord commanded, or were fit for a villein to do. See villein. @ pure villeinage A base tenure, where a… …   Black's law dictionary

  • villeinage — /vil euh nij/, n. 1. the tenure by which a villein held land and tenements from a lord. 2. the condition or status of a villein. Also, villainage, villanage, villenage. [1275 1325; ME vilenage < AF, OF. See VILLEIN, AGE] * * * …   Universalium

  • villeinage — noun the state of being a villein …   Wiktionary

  • villeinage — (Roget s Thesaurus II) also villainage noun A state of subjugation to an owner or master: bondage, enslavement, helotry, serfdom, ser vileness, servility, servitude, slavery, thrall, thralldom, yoke. See OVER …   English dictionary for students

  • villeinage — [ vɪlənɪdʒ, leɪn ] noun historical the tenure or status of a villein in the feudal system …   English new terms dictionary

  • villeinage — vil·lein·age …   English syllables

  • villeinage — vil•lein•age or vil•len•age [[t]ˈvɪl ə nɪdʒ[/t]] n. 1) why+law the tenure by which a villein held land from a lord 2) law why the condition or status of a villein • Etymology: 1275–1325; ME < AF, OF …   From formal English to slang

  • villeinage — /ˈvɪlənɪdʒ/ (say viluhnij) noun 1. the tenure by which a villein held land and tenements from the lord. 2. the condition or status of a villein. Also, villainage, villanage, villenage. {Middle English, from Old French. See villain, age} …  

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